Tuensang, May 11 (MExN): The Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) today urged the Government of India (GoI) to “take seriously” a statement made by Major General (Retired) ALM Fazlur Rahman in a Facebook post on April 29, reportedly suggesting “Bangladesh occupying Northeast Indian states if India attacks Pakistan.”
The ENPO expressed apprehension, considering the numerous unresolved issues dragging on for decades due to what it termed lukewarm and divisive policies of the GoI, stated a release from the organisation.
Under such circumstances, the region might tend to succumb to such aggressive stands unless the GoI redefines its policies, it maintained.
The GoI must uphold its utmost principle of “Unity in Diversity” by strengthening the people of the nation through liberty, equality, and fraternity as envisaged in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, it added.
Meanwhile, according to the ENPO, considering the fact that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are suspected to have saturated the region, external invasion could come not “only from across the border but from within.”
To this end, the ENPO stated that there should be a common concord among all ethnic races of the NNE (North and North Eastern) states in resolving and framing strategies to safeguard the ancestral and traditional territory of the concerned tribes and races.
The organisation also lauded what it termed the “proactive role” of the Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, in safeguarding the “internal security” of Assam and suggested that such a stance be replicated by all NE states.
It also pointed out that the Assam Government in the past has allegedly “harboured or accommodated” lakhs of illegal immigrants for vote bank politics, and stated that such actions pose a threat to the sovereignty of the nation.
The ENPO also expressed hope that Sarma would continue to take steps to flush out all ‘illegal immigrants’ in the future.
Meanwhile, the ENPO lauded the Governor and Chief Minister of Nagaland for their state-wide call for vigilance and national security, describing it as a significant demonstration of unity and patriotism.
The State Government, along with various stakeholders, had unanimously resolved to express its solidarity with the Indian Armed Forces and national leadership, reaffirming the State’s commitment to national security and unity, it added.
The ENPO reasserted that both the Central and State Governments must ensure the neutralisation of any form of terror or atrocities inflicted upon any Indian citizen.
To this end, it also highlighted the massacre of 14 innocent youths at point-blank range on the pretext of the ‘war against terror’ in Oting, and reminded that both the Pahalgam and Oting tragedies reflect a lack of robust intelligence and strategic operational planning.
The GoI must ensure that such negligence is not repeated in the NE states, it added.
It must be noted here that the Government of Bangladesh has distanced itself from the ex-Bangladesh army officer's remark.
In a media release, Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly stated: “The comments do not reflect the position or policies of the Government of Bangladesh, and as such, the government neither endorses nor supports such rhetoric in any form or manner.”
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